Clearly Classical

The world of classical music comes to you each weekday with Valley Public Radio's Clearly Classical. Hear selections from FM89's music library ranging from favorites like Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to lesser known composers of the classical era. Hosted by Kristina Herrick, George Mason and Jason Scott. You can hear Clearly Classical on FM89 from Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. till 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. till 4:00 p.m., except on Tuesdays, when Valley Edition airs from 9:00 a.m. till 10:00 a.m.

Some people are intimidated by the vastness of classical music. And while the prospect of more than 1,000 years of hits to consider may be daunting, just think instead of how many musical journeys of discovery can be made.

Viola da gamba players are a special breed — a tiny subset in the already small world of early classical music. They rarely meet their own kind, but once a year they come together for a week in July at an annual jam session they call a conclave. Wendy Gillespie, who just finished her term as president of the Viola da Gamba Society of America, says attending the event is the highlight of her year.

Throughout history, beer has been the drink of the populace. Traditionally, wine was reserved for the upper classes, due at least in part to the limited area in which grapes would grow, the subtlety of the flavors, the sheer price of production. Barley, on the other hand, grows much more plentifully than grapes do, in a much broader climate. It can be made much more inexpensively and in much greater volume, so beer supplied a vast peasantry with something safe, sustaining — and delicious — to drink.

Music

8:36 pm

Thu September 22, 2011

Audiences throughout the world know Audra McDonald as a star of both the stage and screen, a three time Tony Award winner, a two time Grammy winner, and until recently a star on the hit ABC television series Private Practice. Her latest project finds her returning to the world of musical theatre, starring in a new production of Porgy and Bess, currently on stage in Cambridge Massachusetts, and scheduled to make its way to Broadway in December.